Dear Matzav Inbox,
Thanks for providing this forum and for recently addressing various financial issues affecting the frum community.
I’ve just finished sending my daughter to seminary in Eretz Yisroel, and the final bill – after tuition, flights, and spending money – was well over $40,000. Yes, you read that right. Forty. Thousand. Dollars. For one year of seminary! It’s not just a hefty sum; it’s downright insanity.
And as if that wasn’t enough to make me question my own sanity, I’m now gearing up to send another daughter off to seminary in Israel, bracing myself for the financial bloodbath all over again.

Dear Matzav Inbox,
In response to yesterday’s letter on the topic of tuition committees, I’d like to clarify a crucial point that seems to have been overlooked. There is a fundamental difference between a school and a parent, which directly impacts why parents often need to request tuition assistance.
A school has the ability to fundraise. It can host events, solicit donations, and apply for grants. Fundraising is not only accepted but expected as a normal part of a school’s operations. This has always been the case, and any school owner or administrator knows that raising funds is part of the territory. It’s how schools bridge the gap between the actual cost of chinuch and what parents can afford.

Dear MatzavInbox@Gmail.com,
I write this letter with a deep sense of anger and indignation at the treatment I received at the hands of the so-called tuition “committee” of my daughter’s school. Except, let’s call it what it really was—a one-man interrogation. This individual took it upon himself to pry into every aspect of my personal life, from the type of car I drive to where I spend my summers and Yomim Tovim, all in the name of justifying a measly $1,000 discount.
Yes, you read that right.

By Rabbi Moshe Dov Heber
Boys look forward to and enjoy color war. Each game is counted for points towards victory. As a division head, I enjoy watching these games. There are different challenges than the boys are used to from the rest of the summer and it’s great to see boys shine in a different light.

Dear Editor@Matzav.com,
When, exactly, were WhatsApp groups appointed as the judge and jury for every single issue plaguing our frum communities?
When did the cacophony of uninformed opinions, half-baked arguments, and outright lashon hara become the voice of reason in matters that demand careful consideration and rabbinic guidance?

By Rabbi Pinchos Lipchutz
We are all familiar with the concept that the tefillah of Ashrei, which we recite three times daily, is comprised of pesukim that begin with all the Hebrew letters in corresponding order. All of the letters, that is, except one. There is no posuk in Ashrei that begins with the letter nun.

By Rabbi Moshe Dov Heber
The following is a letter that I sent to my talmidim to help them have a proper perspective on this Tisha B’av. My hope is that others could be inspired as well.
Dear Talmidim,
We have all experienced Tisha B’av in the past. It was a day where we heard that we were supposed to feel sad. We sat on the floor. We saw how serious our parents were. But honestly it may have not meant so much for us. Life seemed fine and there was not much to mourn since we sometimes have a hard time connecting with things of the past.

By Rabbi Pinchos Lipschutz
Once again, we are reminded that we are living in historic and dangerous times. Israel’s assassination of terror leaders in retribution for the wanton murder of twelve Israeli children has led to a sense of impending war in Eretz Yisroel. As of this writing, Israelis are waiting fearfully for Iran and its proxies to shower the country with a rain of powerful rockets, never previously seen or experienced. As the mournful month of Av begins, we watch from afar with much trepidation.

By Rabbi Moshe Dov Heber
I remember sitting on the floor crying and – for the first time – feeling something on Tisha B’av. It was my first year as a camper in Camp Kol Torah in Cleveland and the summer was going great. Tisha B’av was brought in with a serious feeling in the air. Today we are going to mourn the loss of the Bais Hamikdash was the feeling that we all felt.
That night, cramped in the Mechina bais medrash of Telshe, we davened maariv followed by kinnos and then the singing began. Open crying and tears, as we all swayed to the voices of hundreds of young children and bochurim connecting to the churban with song. I had never heard or felt that ever before and that was Tisha B’av etched in my memory.

By Rabbi Pinchos Lipschutz
We read in this week’s parsha (31:3) that Moshe Rabbeinu addressed the Jewish people on the need to gather men for an army to exact revenge against Midyan. Rashi shares with us that although Moshe’s death was intertwined with this battle, he happily undertook it without delay.